The effect of muscle metaboreflex on the distribution of blood flow in cerebral arteries during isometric exercise

The present study examined the effect of muscle metaboreflex on blood flow in different cerebral arteries. Eleven healthy participants performed isometric, one-leg knee extension at 30% maximal voluntary contraction for 2 min. Activated muscle metaboreflex was isolated for 2 min by post-exercise muscle ischemia (PEMI). The contralateral internal carotid (ICA), vertebral (VA), and ipsilateral external carotid arteries (ECA) blood flows were evaluated using Doppler ultrasound. The ICA blood flow increased at the beginning of exercise (P = 0.004) but returned to the baseline level at the end of exercise (P = 0.055). In contrast, the VA blood flow increased and it was maintained until the end of the exercise (P = 0.011), while the ECA blood flow gradually increased throughout the exercise (P = 0.001). These findings indicate that isometric exercise causes a heterogeneous cerebral blood flow response in different cerebral arteries. During PEMI, the conductance of the VA as well as that of the ICA was significantly lower compared with the baseline value (P = 0.020 and P = 0.032, at PEMI90), while the conductance of the ECA was not different from the baseline (P = 0.587), suggesting that the posterior and anterior cerebral vasculature were similarly affected during exercise by activation of muscle metaboreceptors, but not in the non-cerebral artery. Since ECA branches from ICA, the balance in the different influence of muscle metaboreflex on ECA (vasodilation via exercise-induced hypertension) and ICA (vasoconstriction) may contribute to the decrease in ICA blood flow at the end of isometric exercise.